༺ Towards the Empire (2) ༻
After a few days had passed, the blacksmith’s workshop had been cleared up.
Dovan stepped out into the yard and felt a strange relief as he looked back at his packed belongings.
He had lived in this workshop his whole life, but it was now all packed up into only 3 bags of necessities. He hadn’t really thought about it, but he just realized it now.
“I guess I’ve been living more frugally than I thought.”
He said in a playful tone.
Renee covered her mouth and laughed, then she answered.
“I think it’s a good habit, especially in the Holy Kingdom.”
“I don’t know what to do with myself.”
Dovan answered with a smirk, then he turned to Renee and held something out to her. It was a black cane.
“Here, take it. I don’t really know what to do with it, so I’ll just give it to you as a bribe.”
“This is…”
“It’s a cane. It’ll probably last you a couple of decades. It’s a sturdy thing, you know.”
Renee stroked the cane in her hand, appreciating the sensation.
It was slightly heavier than her previous one. The cane was smooth to the touch. When she tapped the ground with it, it made a crisp, clear sound.
Renee thanked Dovan with an awkward smile, realizing that he made it for her.
“Thank you! Even though you already have your hands full with packing.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, think of it as a bribe.”
Dovan smiled as he looked at Renee clutching her cane tightly. Then, he added.
“I’ve added a couple of features in that cane.”
“Features? ”
“Why don’t you try hitting the floor hard once? Ah, with some divinity into the cane, of course.”
Renee tilted her head at Dovan’s sudden remark, then she nodded and raised her hand.
She covered the cane in white divinity, then Renee hit the ground with a ‘thud’.
Hwaah—!
A wave of white light swept all around.
“Ah!”
Renee’s entire body shook. She had an astonished look on her face.
“This is…”
Her voice was filled with surprise because she could not believe what just happened. Dovan looked at Renee and explained.
“For 3 times a day, imbue the cane with divinity and hit the ground, and you’ll be able to identify the objects around you. The waves reflect the objects that it hits. I made it because I thought it would be helpful to you if you’re by yourself.”
Vera, who had been silent until now, asked.
“It seems that you’re familiar with magical engineering?”
“I dabbled on it for a while when I was younger. Well, this fool tried to, but it was too complicated, so I gave up. That thing was made mostly from material leftovers.”
Dovan pointed towards the cane.
“It’s made of leftover Froden from the making of your sword.”
“…You mean, Froden?”
“Yes, its mana conductivity rate is unbelievable. With that, even someone with little knowledge like me can imitate some magic engineering.”
Vera looked at the cane, understanding suddenly dawning on him.
But there was still something he didn’t understand.
“It’s black, for something made of Froden.”
The cane was indeed black. If Froden was used, it should have been white, no matter what other materials were added in.
Vera’s face was filled with questions. Looking at him, Dovan immediately spoke to Renee with a smirk on his face.
“Saint, could you turn the handle of the cane counterclockwise, please?”
“Oh, yes, yes!”
Rene replied belatedly while making a confused face because of the strange sensation she just felt.
It was an absolutely mystical sensation. It wasn’t something that she saw. It was something that she felt. It allowed her to know what was in the place where the wave spread and collided, and what shape it had.
It was a puzzling sensation. Unable to find the words to describe it, Renee followed Dovan’s instructions and turned the handle.
And then…
Zing—!
A chilly clang rang out.
Clang—
Renee’s body hardened, as well as Vera’s. Dovan laughed.
“There’s a hidden sword. I thought you should have at least one weapon for self-defense, don’t you think?”
He said so with his thumbs up.
At that, Renee’s eyes teared up and nodded.
“Th-thank you…”
“Well, you may not use it often since you can’t see ahead, but… it’ll make you feel safer if you have it, right? You can use the waves to locate your enemies, then you swing your sword. I think there’s a certain romance in that.”
Dovan kept on rambling.
At his words, something came to Renee’s mind.
‘Should I be grateful…?’
Well, she should be thankful for receiving something she had never thought of before.
But for some reason, she didn’t feel grateful at all, and her expression twisted strangely.
Vera, who was looking at her from her side, looked at the pure white Froden blade and nodded his head before he spoke.
“It definitely doesn’t hurt to have it. If you ever want to learn swordsmanship, please let me know, Saint. I can teach you the basics.”
Renee suddenly felt the urge to cry.
She wanted to speak. To say that she’s not some sort of weapon.
Thinking that it would be disrespectful to Dovan, who had made her a gift, and to Vera, who was worried about her, Renee nodded with a tearful face.
“Okay…”
She thought, in the back of her mind, that she would absolutely never wield a sword.
***
The day of the departure arrived.
After loading their things into the carriage, the group climbed aboard and set off, heading straight towards the Empire.
“Wow…!”
Aisha exclaimed.
Renee chuckled as she watched Aisha, who was throwing up exclamations the moment she entered the carriage.
The young Aisha, who was elated to be going somewhere new, was filled with excitement the entire time.
“Renee, Renee! There’s a lake there!”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, it’s so huge…!”
Aisha’s eyes sparkled with wonder, and her tail swished back and forth in excitement.
Just as Renee thought, Aisha’s excitement already took over her.
Going into a new place. Into a bigger world. Those were part of the reason, but perhaps the biggest reason for her excitement was that there would be no more people to torment her master.
She wouldn’t have to see her master’s sad face anymore.
Lost in her happy thoughts, Aisha leaned out of the carriage window, only to be warned by Dovan.
“Aisha, what are you gonna do if you fall off? Get your head inside.”
“Ah, okay.”
Dovan restrained Aisha.
Dovan knew how much Aisha cared for him.
Suddenly, a small stirring occurred in Dovan’s heart. He was proud of his apprentice, who was growing up so well, even though it wasn’t that long since he first started taking care of her.
It was a peaceful and leisurely atmosphere.
Aisha, who already put her head back inside the carriage and started swinging her legs, spoke up this time.
“Renee, are there many impressive people in the Empire?”
Her cheeks had a slight flush.
Aisha may have been a bit rough, but she was still a 12-year-old girl. She still had that innocent romance that only a girl her age had.
Upon hearing that, Dovan’s face stiffened up. A laugh escaped Renee’s lips.
Renee nodded and said.
“Of course. Hmm, I suddenly thought of someone.”
“Who?”
“The Second Prince of the Empire. He’s a very famous person.”
Rumors about him were all across the continent.
One might find it strange that the Second Prince, who was not even the Crown Prince, had such a reputation, but if one listened to the rumors that were circulating, it made sense.
“I’ve heard that he’s the youngest Imperial Knight, a successor of a masterpiece… and that he’s ridiculously good-looking.”
“Waaah…..!”
Aisha’s tail perked up. The exclamation was filled with even more anticipation than before.
“Can we see him?”
“Hmm, I don’t know. But there’s going to be a festival celebrating the founding of the country soon, so if we’re lucky?”
“Ehm! Ehem!”
Dovan coughed. Renee giggled at Dovan’s uncomfortable expression, then she turned to Vera and asked him a question.
“Ah, Vera is also from the Empire, right? Have you ever seen the Second Prince?”
“…Yes.”
Vera nodded. His voice was tainted with a bit of reluctance.
The Second Prince, Albrecht de Freich. For now, he went by a different name, but after defeating the Demon King, he would be known as the ‘Knight of Honor’, the name of the leader of the Heroes.
Of course, Vera, who had fought against the heroes before, would’ve known.
That was why there was reluctance in his voice.
…Although it could be said that there was another reason why Vera was showing this kind of behavior.
A very bewildering reason.
It was because of Renee’s talk about Albrecht. For some reason, even hearing her speak of Albrecht in a positive light did not sit well with him.
“How is he? Is he really like the rumors?”
“Yeah? Say something! Is the Second Prince actually very handsome?”
It was Renee and Aisha’s words, respectively. At some point, Aisha had even started calling him ‘Second Prince’.
Vera, who suddenly remembered how Aisha called the nobles the worst scum, looked at her with a rigid face.
His words came out in a blunt tone.
“He looks like a sparrow.”
“…What?”
“It hurts to look at him. His voice also sounds wicked. Well, he’s good at swordsmanship, but I’m much better.”
It was a very biased evaluation.
Renee’s head tilted, and Aisha’s face was filled with contempt.
“Why are you suddenly bragging about yourself?”
“Shut up.”
“Bleeh…”
Aisha stuck her tongue out and flicked it all over.
For some reason, the atmosphere started becoming awkward.
Flustered, Renee quickly tried to mend the situation.
“Well, surely there must be a reason for those rumors, right?”
“I don’t know. The most famous rumor I know about the Second Prince is that he’s a homosexual.”
Vera’s unending fabrication had failed him.
Even though he thought to himself, that wasn’t a lie.
In fact, there had indeed been rumors that the second prince was into men.
Of course, it was a rumor started by the noble ladies who he had rejected to sleep with, but that wasn’t important for Vera.
What was important for Vera right now was to defame the second prince in front of Renee.
Vera’s plan definitely worked.
…But in a slightly different way.
The corners of Renee’s mouth twitched.
“Oh, is that so…”
Homosexual.
At those words, her ‘always wrong instincts’ reacted.
Renee, who unknowingly flinched… tried to erase those thoughts in whatever way, but it wasn’t easy.
“Oh, but that can’t be true…”
A man was crossing the line. Why did she have to even treat a man as a love rival now?
Renee’s complexion became dark.
The Second Prince. An overwhelming power. In Vera’s words, a cunning man.
Renee thought that maybe the Second Prince would use his power to kidnap Vera and confine him.
‘You are mine forever.’
Shiver—
She felt shivers run down her whole body. A form of repulsion broke out on her face.
A sense of urgency aroused.
As Renee’s expression of reluctance towards the Second Prince became apparent, Vera’s complexion relaxed and Aisha became curious.
“What is homosexual?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Huh? That’s unfair.”
Dovan, who had been watching the whole thing from a corner, shook his head dumbfounded.
‘This isn’t going to be easy.’
Renee and Vera felt like their clothes were going to burst from the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Suddenly, a thought popped into Dovan’s head.
‘Will I ever see them get together before I die?’
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